The GTC IAWF Zerb magazine is a twice yearly journal. The magazine has been around since 1973, which was the year after the Guild was started. I have idly wondered about the name from time to time, but nobody seems to know why it is called Zerb. What’s in a name? In this instance it’s short and memorable and that’s probably all that matters. Whatever you may think of the name, members hold the GTC IAWF Zerb magazine in high regard. Whenever I open it I know I will always find cutting edge information relevant to working camera crew.
Zerb, GTC, IAWF and the wildlife cameraman
The IAWF is affiliated to the GTC and I wrote about the affiliation a while ago. Twice a year I receive a copy of Zerb in the post. I have to be honest, it takes me quite a long time to read. Usually I sandwich its reading between popular crime thrillers, classics and the weekly Lidl bargains of the week newsletter. Over the past couple of years I have written one article for Zerb and encourage IAWF members to write articles too. Zerb usually comprises ninety pages of detailed information and that’s why I take quite a long time to read it. In every edition I will find at least one article by a wildlife cameraman and I learn something from every article. Today I picked three random copies of Zerb off a shelf in my edit room and here is a summary of what they contain.
Zerb – 3 random copies
The first copy of Zerb that I picked up included, for instance, an article by Sinclair Stammers who joined IAWF some years ago. Sinclair’s speciality is filming the invisible, because he gets a kick out of filming what the naked eye cannot see. In the article Sinclair describes the fascination of filming minute insects, parasites and bacteria. If you like watching horror movies I think you will be impressed by some of the photographs! Because of problems with vibration Sinclair built a studio modelled on a nuclear bunker.
The second copy of Zerb featured articles by two IAWF members, Hector Skevington-Postles and Ryan Atkinson. Hector describes his experience of tracking and filming snow leopards in Himachal Pradesh. Snow leopard can be invisible too, but not because they are small. Hector talks about ‘getting your eye in’ to actually see the animal, and how satisfying the whole job was. Ryan Atkinson subtitled his article, “In, Under and On the Edge.” Some of Ryan’s work his metal strength to the limit, and the physical strength of both himself and the kit to the limit. To quote one part of the article, “Every location comes with unique challenges, but none more so than the humidity and heat of the jungle.”
The third copy hosted an article by Dick Harrewijn, and in picking it up I decided to read it again. Dick had just finished a big project in the Netherlands and talks about storytelling. He worked closely with another director, and the article looks in detail at how they went about filming the wildlife project. He talks about equipment choice, shooting styles, and how working on a whole project was a dream come true.
What’s in the rest of Zerb
I didn’t realise this until just now, but you can subscribe to Zerb. It’s really good value, and not just for the wildlife cameraman.